


Thread 3

by banbanabas



Series: FE3H Threadfic Collection [3]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Crimson Flower Route, Established Relationship, F/F, Fluff, Post-Timeskip | War Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), postgame
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-28
Updated: 2019-12-28
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:48:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21997012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/banbanabas/pseuds/banbanabas
Summary: Byleth asks about the portrait.
Relationships: Edelgard von Hresvelg/My Unit | Byleth
Series: FE3H Threadfic Collection [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1583395
Comments: 3
Kudos: 109





	Thread 3

**Author's Note:**

> this was originally posted as a twitter thread.

"El," Byleth murmurs late one evening when they're in bed, half-asleep and entangled in each other. "I wanted to ask you something."

Edelgard hums a contented noise. "Ask away."

"What happened to that drawing you did of me?"

Edelgard stiffens. "Why... why do you ask?"

"I never got to see it."

"Th-there's a reason I didn't show you, Byleth. It’s terrible--"

Byleth presses a kiss to her forehead. "That's okay. I still want you to show me. If you want to. If you still have it."

For a long moment, Edelgard goes quiet. She stares at the ceiling. Byleth wonders if she's overstepped, and then Edelgard scoots out of bed, walks to their shared dresser, and starts removing clothes. Byleth's heart drops. Is she so upset that she wants to move out?

"What are you doing?" Byleth asks, an edge of worry to her voice.

Edelgard shoots her a look. Her cheeks are pink. "I’m getting them for you."

"'Them'?" Byleth echoes, but Edelgard doesn't clarify.

Finally, she pulls a stack of papers from the bottom of a drawer.

She returns to Byleth and drops the pile beside her. Edelgard moves to the other side of the bed, face in her hands, and sighs. "That's all of them. Since the academy. I know they aren't good, but... you asked," she mumbles.

Byleth carefully turns over the first paper. It’s the portrait of her. She smiles.

She traces her fingers over the lines. Her nose isn't shaped quite right, and her eyes are a little too close together, but it's definitely her. She feels warmth rising to her cheeks.

"I love it," Byleth says, and she means it. Edelgard grumbles something indecipherable into her hands.

Byleth continues looking through the papers. There are a few more attempts at the portrait, some half-sketches of Dorothea and Hubert. One of Bernie.

The next page is... confusing. It’s covered in sketches of a person with no face, in different poses, and then it hits her. "El."

"What."

"Are these drawings of me from when I was teaching?"

Edelgard makes a high-pitched keening sound. "...Maybe."

"Why didn't you give me a face?"

"I was afraid to try," Edelgard says. "You saw the portraits. i didn't want to ruin these sketches with a badly-drawn face."

"Did you draw these during class?"

Eedelgard hesitates. "No," she mumbles. "Not all of them."

Byleth laughs.

The last drawing, though, takes her breath away. It’s a self-portrait of a younger Edelgard. Byleth stares at it in wonder, marveling at the attention to detail: the curves in her hair ribbons, the light glinting off her eyes.

She carries it to El. "This one's my favorite."

Edelgard glances over it. "Why?"

"It looks just like you. You must have spent a lot of time on it."

She blushes, moving a hair from her face. "Yes, well... I drew it in front of a mirror. I didn't have to rely on memory."

"Hm. Would you want to try drawing me not from memory?"

The look Edelgard gives her is half embarrassed, half hopeful. Her mouth hangs open, and Byleth can tell she's fighting back an indignant outburst.

But Edelgard just closes her eyes and pauses, and when she opens them again, she's smiling. "I would love that, Byleth."

"I can pose nude for you, too."

The smile is replaced with a red-faced grimace. "No, not ready for that," Edelgard blurts out, and Byleth drops onto the bed next to her, grinning.

"Okay. I’ll keep clothes on, then," Byleth concedes. "At first."

El hits her with a pillow.

**Author's Note:**

> find me on twitter: @sporeprise


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